KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Former Voice of the Kansas City Chiefs and Kansas Jayhawks is reflecting on what it was like to broadcast from the very first Super Bowl in 1967.
85-year-old Tom Hedrick is the only broadcaster alive from the first Super Bowl, when the Kansas City Chiefs took on the Green Bay Packers January 15th, 1967. Before the players ever took their first snap, the Kansas native got a call that would forever change his life.
He was told he would be doing the game's radio broadcast just days before the big game. Hedrick said he always had done play-by-play but never color commentary. So, the pressure was on for him. It went well because he went on to to call Super Bowl II and IV.
Hedrick said he believed after seeing the Chiefs go to the first Super Bowl, that they would do it again.
"I, in fact, I was so arrogant. I thought the Chiefs to be there for three or four years. I didn't dream a big 50 years to go between winning and then winning again," Hedrick said. "Remember Super Bowl 54 with seven minutes 36 seconds to go, the Chiefs down 20 to 10. I'm saying to myself and telling my wife is that you know what I said, you have to experience the pressure of that game first and then you can win it."
Hedrick tells 41 Action News that he believes this is going to be a close game. The turnovers, the offensive line and Patrick Mahomes are going to be the difference. His score prediction: 31-28.
The Chiefs take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday at 5:30 p.m.
